System and method for emergency calls initiated by voice command

ABSTRACT

A method of operating a digital assistant to provide emergency call functionality is provided. In some embodiments, the method is performed at a device including one or more processors and memory storing instructions for execution by the one or more processors. The method includes receiving a speech input from a user, determining whether the speech input expresses a user request for making an emergency call, and determining a local emergency dispatcher telephone number based on a geographic location of the device. The method also includes, in response to determining or obtaining a determination that the speech input expresses a user request for making an emergency call, calling the local emergency dispatcher telephone number using the emergency call functionality.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Ser. No.61/834,823, filed on Jun. 13, 2013, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOREMERGENCY CALLS INITIATED BY VOICE COMMAND, which is hereby incorporatedby reference in its entirety for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed embodiments relate generally to digital assistants. Morespecifically, to a method and system for operating a digital assistantto provide emergency call functionality.

BACKGROUND

Recently, voice-based digital assistants, such as Apple's SIRI, havebeen introduced into the marketplace to handle various tasks such as websearching and navigation. Recent advances in natural language processinghave enabled users to interact with digital assistants using naturallanguage, in spoken or textual forms, rather than employing aconventional user interface (e.g., menus or programmed commands). Suchdigital assistants can interpret the user's input to deduce the user'sintent; translate the deduced intent into actionable tasks andparameters; execute operations or deploy services to perform the tasks;and produce outputs that are intelligible to the user.

SUMMARY

Embodiments disclosed herein provide methods, devices, systems, andcomputer readable storage mediums for operating a digital assistant toprovide emergency call functionality.

Some embodiments provide a method for operating a digital assistant toprovide emergency call functionality. The method is performed at adevice having memory and one or more processors. The method includesreceiving a speech input from a user, determining or obtaining adetermination of whether the speech input expresses a user request formaking an emergency call, and determining or obtaining a determinationof a local emergency dispatcher telephone number based on a geographiclocation of the device. The method further includes, in response todetermining or obtaining a determination that the speech input expressesa user request for making an emergency call, calling the local emergencydispatcher telephone number using emergency call functionality.

In some embodiments, determining whether the speech input expresses auser request for making an emergency call is performed at a remoteserver, distinct from the device. In some embodiments, determining alocal emergency dispatcher telephone number based on a geographiclocation of the device is performed at a remote server, distinct fromthe device. In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving atext input from the user.

In various circumstances, the method is performed while: the device hasan active data connection; or the device does not have an activeconnection to a subscribed telephone service, but does have access to abaseband telephone service; or the device does not have an operating SIMcard; or the device does not have a SIM card that is compatible with anytelephony service available at the device's current location.

In some embodiments the method further includes, prior to determining orobtaining a determination of the local emergency dispatcher telephonenumber, ascertaining the geographic location of the device.

In some embodiments, the emergency dispatcher telephone number is one ofa plurality of emergency dispatcher telephone numbers stored on thedevice.

In some embodiments, determining or obtaining a determination of whetherthe speech input expresses a user request for making an emergency callcomprises determining or obtaining a determination of whether the speechinput unambiguously expresses a user request for making an emergencycall. In these embodiments, the method further includes, in response toa determination that the speech input unambiguously expresses a userrequest for an emergency call, without further user input, calling thelocal emergency dispatcher telephone number using the emergency callfunctionality; and, in response to a determination that the speech inputdoes not unambiguously express a user request for an emergency call,prior to calling the local emergency dispatcher telephone number usingthe emergency call functionality, providing the user with a notificationand an affordance for confirming the user's request for making anemergency call.

In some embodiments, determining or obtaining a determination of whetherthe speech input expresses a user request for making an emergency callcomprises determining or obtaining a determination that the speech inputis a user request for calling a first emergency number. In theseembodiments, determining or obtaining a determination of a localemergency dispatcher telephone number based on a geographic location ofthe device comprises determining or obtaining a determination of asecond emergency number; and, when the first emergency number isdistinct from the second emergency number, calling the local emergencydispatcher telephone number using the emergency call functionalitycomprises calling the second emergency number.

In some embodiments, the method further includes, prior to calling thelocal emergency dispatcher telephone number, providing a notification tothe user that the device will promptly call the local emergencydispatcher telephone number; and, while providing the notification,providing an affordance for the user to cancel the request for making anemergency call.

In some embodiments, the method further includes, providing a limitednatural language processing module within the digital assistant, whereinthe limited natural language processing module differs from a primarynatural language processing module used by the digital assistant duringnormal operation, and wherein the limited natural language processingmodule is tailored to recognize speech inputs for invoking the emergencycall functionality.

In some embodiments, the method further includes, determining whetherthe device is currently authorized to make non-emergency telephone callsusing a cellular service available at the current geographic location ofthe device; and, in response to determining that the device is notcurrently authorized to make non-emergency telephone calls using acellular service available at the current geographic location of thedevice, invoking the limited natural language processing module toprocess the speech input.

Using a digital assistant in accordance with the methods describedherein is more efficient and convenient than conventional userinterfaces for providing emergency call functionality.

In accordance with some embodiments, a device includes one or moreprocessors, memory, and one or more programs, where the one or moreprograms are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by theone or more processors. The one or more programs including instructionsto receive a speech input from a user, determine or obtain adetermination of whether the speech input expresses a user request formaking an emergency call, and determine or obtain a determination of alocal emergency dispatcher telephone number based on a geographiclocation of the device. The one or more programs further includinginstructions to, in response to determining or obtaining a determinationthat the speech input expresses a user request for making an emergencycall, call the local emergency dispatcher telephone number. In someembodiments, the device does not have an active connection to asubscribed telephone service, but does have access to a basebandtelephone service.

In accordance with some embodiments, a system includes one or moreprocessors, memory, and one or more programs, where the one or moreprograms are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by theone or more processors. The one or more programs including instructionsto, at a device, receive a speech input from a user. The one or moreprograms further including instructions to determine whether the speechinput expresses a user request for making an emergency call, determine alocal emergency dispatcher telephone number based on a geographiclocation of the device, and, in response to determining that the speechinput expresses a user request for making an emergency call, call thelocal emergency dispatcher telephone number.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer-readable storage medium(e.g., a non-transitory computer readable storage medium) is provided,the computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs forexecution by one or more processors of an electronic device. The one ormore programs, when executed by an electronic device, cause the deviceto receive a speech input from a user, determine or obtain adetermination of whether the speech input expresses a user request formaking an emergency call, and determine or obtain a determination of alocal emergency dispatcher telephone number based on a geographiclocation of the device. The one or more programs further includinginstructions to, in response to determining or obtaining a determinationthat the speech input expresses a user request for making an emergencycall, call the local emergency dispatcher telephone number.

In accordance with some embodiments, an information processing apparatusfor use in an electronic device is provided, the information processingapparatus comprising means for performing any of the methods describedherein.

In accordance with some embodiments, an electronic device comprisesmemory and a processing unit coupled to the memory. The processing unitconfigured to receive a speech input from a user, determine or obtain adetermination of whether the speech input expresses a user request formaking an emergency call, and determine or obtain a determination of alocal emergency dispatcher telephone number based on a geographiclocation of the device. The processing unit is further configured to, inresponse to determining or obtaining a determination that the speechinput expresses a user request for making an emergency call, call thelocal emergency dispatcher telephone number.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an environment in which a digitalassistant operates in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a digital assistant client systemin accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating a digital assistant system or aserver portion thereof in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3B is a block diagram illustrating functions of the digitalassistant shown in FIG. 3A in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3C is a graphical depiction of the ontology shown in FIG. 3B, inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a portable multifunction device having a touch screenin accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 5A-5B illustrate exemplary user interfaces for displaying contentassociated with operating a digital assistant to provide emergency callfunctionality in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating functions of the digital assistantsystem in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 8 are flow charts illustrating methods for operating adigital assistant to provide emergency call functionality, in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device inaccordance with some embodiments.

Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout thedrawings.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detaileddescription, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present inventionmay be practiced without these specific details. In other instances,well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks havenot been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspectsof the embodiments.

It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc.may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements shouldnot be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguishone element from another. For example, a first contact could be termed asecond contact, and, similarly, a second contact could be termed a firstcontact, without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thefirst contact and the second contact are both contacts, but they are notthe same contact.

The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is forthe purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is notintended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the description ofthe invention and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and“the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless thecontext clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that theterm “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and allpossible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Itwill be further understood that the terms “includes,” “including,”“comprises,” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification,specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations,elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

As used herein, the term “if” may be construed to mean “when” or “upon”or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,” dependingon the context. Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [astated condition or event] is detected” may be construed to mean “upondetermining” or “in response to determining” or “upon detecting [thestated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting [the statedcondition or event],” depending on the context.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an operating environment 100 of a digitalassistant according to some embodiments. The terms “digital assistant,”“virtual assistant,” “intelligent automated assistant,” or “automaticdigital assistant,” refer to any information processing system thatinterprets natural language input in spoken and/or textual form todeduce user intent, and performs actions based on the deduced userintent. For example, to act on a deduced user intent, the system canperform one or more of the following: identifying a task flow with stepsand parameters designed to accomplish the deduced user intent, inputtingspecific requirements from the deduced user intent into the task flow;executing the task flow by invoking programs, methods, services, APIs,or the like; and generating output responses to the user in an audible(e.g. speech) and/or visual form.

Specifically, a digital assistant is capable of accepting a user requestat least partially in the form of a natural language command, request,statement, narrative, and/or inquiry. Typically, the user request seekseither an informational answer or performance of a task by the digitalassistant. A satisfactory response to the user request is eitherprovision of the requested informational answer, performance of therequested task, or a combination of the two. For example, a user may askthe digital assistant a question, such as “Where am I right now?” Basedon the user's current location, the digital assistant may answer, “Youare in Central Park near the west gate.” The user may also request theperformance of a task, for example, “Please invite my friends to mygirlfriend's birthday party next week.” In response, the digitalassistant may acknowledge the request by saying “Yes, right away,” andthen send a suitable calendar invite on behalf of the user to each ofthe user' friends listed in the user's electronic address book. Duringperformance of a requested task, the digital assistant sometimesinteracts with the user in a continuous dialogue involving multipleexchanges of information over an extended period of time. There arenumerous other ways of interacting with a digital assistant to requestinformation or performance of various tasks. In addition to providingverbal responses and taking programmed actions, the digital assistantalso provides responses in other visual or audio forms, e.g., as text,alerts, music, videos, animations, etc.

An example of a digital assistant is described in Applicant's U.S.Utility application Ser. No. 12/987,982 for “Intelligent AutomatedAssistant,” filed Jan. 10, 2011, the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

As shown in FIG. 1, in some embodiments, a digital assistant isimplemented according to a client-server model. The digital assistantincludes a client-side portion 102 a, 102 b (hereafter “DA client 102”)executed on a user device 104 a, 104 b, and a server-side portion 106(hereafter “DA server 106”) executed on a server system 108. The DAclient 102 communicates with the DA server 106 through one or morenetworks 110. The DA client 102 provides client-side functionalitiessuch as user-facing input and output processing and communications withthe DA-server 106. The DA server 106 provides server-sidefunctionalities for any number of DA-clients 102 each residing on arespective user device 104.

In some embodiments, the DA server 106 includes a client-facing I/Ointerface 112, one or more processing modules 114, data and models 116,and an I/O interface to external services 118. The client-facing I/Ointerface facilitates the client-facing input and output processing forthe digital assistant server 106. The one or more processing modules 114utilize the data and models 116 to determine the user's intent based onnatural language input and perform task execution based on deduced userintent. In some embodiments, the DA-server 106 communicates withexternal services 120 through the network(s) 110 for task completion orinformation acquisition. The I/O interface to external services 118facilitates such communications.

Examples of the user device 104 include, but are not limited to, ahandheld computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tabletcomputer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a cellular telephone, asmart phone, an enhanced general packet radio service (EGPRS) mobilephone, a media player, a navigation device, a game console, atelevision, a remote control, a portable multifunction device, or acombination of any two or more of these data processing devices or otherdata processing devices. More details on the user device 104 areprovided in reference to an exemplary user device 104 shown in FIG. 2.

Examples of the communication network(s) 110 include local area networks(“LAN”) and wide area networks (“WAN”), e.g., the Internet. Thecommunication network(s) 110 may be implemented using any known networkprotocol, including various wired or wireless protocols, such as e.g.,Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), codedivision multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA),Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, or anyother suitable communication protocol.

The server system 108 is implemented on one or more standalone dataprocessing apparatus or a distributed network of computers. In someembodiments, the server system 108 also employs various virtual devicesand/or services of third party service providers (e.g., third-partycloud service providers) to provide the underlying computing resourcesand/or infrastructure resources of the server system 108.

Although the digital assistant shown in FIG. 1 includes both aclient-side portion (e.g., the DA-client 102) and a server-side portion(e.g., the DA-server 106), in some embodiments, the functions of adigital assistant is implemented as a standalone application installedon a user device. In addition, the divisions of functionalities betweenthe client and server portions of the digital assistant can vary indifferent embodiments. For example, in some embodiments, the DA clientis a thin-client that provides only user-facing input and outputprocessing functions, and delegates all other functionalities of thedigital assistant to a backend server. In some embodiments, a digitalassistant includes a limited natural language processing moduleimplemented on the device. In some of these embodiments, the limitednatural language processing module is used when the device is notauthorized to make non-emergency telephone calls. In some of theseembodiments, the limited natural language processing module is tailoredto recognize speech inputs for invoking emergency call functionality.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a user device 104 in accordance with someembodiments. The user device 104 includes a memory interface 202, one ormore processors 204, and a peripherals interface 206. The variouscomponents in the user device 104 are coupled by one or morecommunication buses or signal lines. The user device 104 includesvarious sensors, subsystems, and peripheral devices that are coupled tothe peripherals interface 206. The sensors, subsystems, and peripheraldevices gather information and/or facilitate various functionalities ofthe user device 104.

For example, a motion sensor 210, a light sensor 212, and a proximitysensor 214 are coupled to the peripherals interface 206 to facilitateorientation, light, and proximity sensing functions. One or more othersensors 216, such as a positioning system (e.g., GPS receiver), atemperature sensor, a biometric sensor, a gyro, a compass, anaccelerometer, and the like, are also connected to the peripheralsinterface 206, to facilitate related functionalities.

In some embodiments, a camera subsystem 220 and an optical sensor 222are utilized to facilitate camera functions, such as taking photographsand recording video clips. An audio subsystem 226 is coupled to speakers228 and a microphone 230 to facilitate voice-enabled functions, such asvoice recognition, voice replication, digital recording, and telephonyfunctions.

In some embodiments, communication functions are facilitated through oneor more wired and/or wireless communication subsystem(s) 224, which caninclude various communication ports, radio frequency receivers andtransmitters, and/or optical (e.g., infrared) receivers andtransmitters. In some embodiments, communication subsystem(s) 224includes a baseband module for providing baseband telephony services. Insome embodiments, baseband telephony services comprise telephonyservices available to users of the device, even when a user is notsubscribed to, and/or authorized to use, any available cellulartelephony services.

In some embodiments, an I/O subsystem 240 is also coupled to theperipheral interface 206. The I/O subsystem 240 includes a touch screencontroller 242 and/or other input controller(s) 244. The touch-screencontroller 242 is coupled to a touch screen 246. The touch screen 246and the touch screen controller 242 can, for example, detect contact andmovement or break thereof using any of a plurality of touch sensitivitytechnologies, such as capacitive, resistive, infrared, surface acousticwave technologies, proximity sensor arrays, and the like. The otherinput controller(s) 244 can be coupled to other input/control devices248, such as one or more buttons, rocker switches, thumb-wheel, infraredport, USB port, and/or a pointer device such as a stylus.

In some embodiments, the memory interface 202 is coupled to memory 250.The memory 250 can include high-speed random access memory and/ornon-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices,one or more optical storage devices, and/or flash memory (e.g., NAND,NOR).

In some embodiments, the memory 250 stores an operating system 252, acommunication module 254, a user interface module 256, a sensorprocessing module 258, a phone module 260, and applications 262. Theoperating system 252 includes instructions for handling basic systemservices and for performing hardware dependent tasks. The communicationmodule 254 facilitates communicating with one or more additionaldevices, one or more computers and/or one or more servers. The userinterface module 256 facilitates graphic user interface processing andoutput processing using other output channels (e.g., speakers). Thesensor processing module 258 facilitates sensor-related processing andfunctions. The phone module 260 facilitates phone-related processes andfunctions. The application module 262 facilitates variousfunctionalities of user applications, such as electronic-messaging, webbrowsing, media processing, Navigation, imaging and/or other processesand functions. In some embodiments, the memory 250 also stores anemergency call module 270. The emergency call module 270 provides datarelated to emergency calls (e.g., emergency dispatcher telephonenumbers, emergency baseband connection protocols, etc.).

As described in this specification, the memory 250 also storesclient-side digital assistant instructions (e.g., in a digital assistantclient module 264) and various user data 266 (e.g., user-specificvocabulary data, preference data, and/or other data such as the user'selectronic address book, to-do lists, shopping lists, etc.) to providethe client-side functionalities of the digital assistant. In someembodiments, the memory 250 also includes a limited language module 268to provide limited digital assistant functionality (e.g., tailored toemergency call functionalities) at the device 104.

In various embodiments, the digital assistant client module 264 iscapable of accepting voice input (e.g., speech input), text input, touchinput, and/or gestural input through various user interfaces (e.g., theI/O subsystem 244) of the user device 104. The digital assistant clientmodule 264 is also capable of providing output in audio (e.g., speechoutput), visual, and/or tactile forms. For example, output can beprovided as voice, sound, alerts, text messages, menus, graphics,videos, animations, vibrations, and/or combinations of two or more ofthe above. During operation, the digital assistant client module 264communicates with the digital assistant server using the communicationsubsystems 224.

In some embodiments, the digital assistant client module 264 utilizesthe various sensors, subsystems and peripheral devices to gatheradditional information from the surrounding environment of the userdevice 104 to establish a context associated with a user, the currentuser interaction, and/or the current user input. In some embodiments,the digital assistant client module 264 provides the context informationor a subset thereof with the user input to the digital assistant serverto help deduce the user's intent. In some embodiments, the digitalassistant also uses the context information to determine how to prepareand deliver outputs to the user.

In some embodiments, the context information that accompanies the userinput includes sensor information, e.g., lighting, ambient noise,ambient temperature, images or videos of the surrounding environment,etc. In some embodiments, the context information also includes thephysical state of the device, e.g., device orientation, device location,device temperature, power level, speed, acceleration, motion patterns,cellular signals strength, etc. In some embodiments, information relatedto the software state of the user device 106, e.g., running processes,installed programs, past and present network activities, backgroundservices, error logs, resources usage, etc., of the user device 104 areprovided to the digital assistant server as context informationassociated with a user input.

In some embodiments, the DA client module 264 selectively providesinformation (e.g., user data 266) stored on the user device 104 inresponse to requests from the digital assistant server. In someembodiments, the digital assistant client module 264 also elicitsadditional input from the user via a natural language dialogue or otheruser interfaces upon request by the digital assistant server 106. Thedigital assistant client module 264 passes the additional input to thedigital assistant server 106 to help the digital assistant server 106 inintent deduction and/or fulfillment of the user's intent expressed inthe user request.

In various embodiments, the memory 250 includes additional instructionsor fewer instructions. Furthermore, various functions of the user device104 may be implemented in hardware and/or in firmware, including in oneor more signal processing and/or application specific integratedcircuits.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram of an example digital assistant system 300 inaccordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the digitalassistant system 300 is implemented on a standalone computer system. Insome embodiments, the digital assistant system 300 is distributed acrossmultiple computers. In some embodiments, some of the modules andfunctions of the digital assistant are divided into a server portion anda client portion, where the client portion resides on a user device(e.g., the user device 104) and communicates with the server portion(e.g., the server system 108) through one or more networks, e.g., asshown in FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the digital assistant system 300is an embodiment of the server system 108 (and/or the digital assistantserver 106) shown in FIG. 1. It should be noted that the digitalassistant system 300 is only one example of a digital assistant system,and that the digital assistant system 300 may have more or fewercomponents than shown, may combine two or more components, or may have adifferent configuration or arrangement of the components. The variouscomponents shown in FIG. 3A may be implemented in hardware, softwareinstructions for execution by one or more processors, firmware,including one or more signal processing and/or application specificintegrated circuits, or a combination of thereof.

The digital assistant system 300 includes memory 302, one or moreprocessors 304, an input/output (I/O) interface 306, and a networkcommunications interface 308. These components communicate with oneanother over one or more communication buses or signal lines 310.

In some embodiments, the memory 302 includes a non-transitory computerreadable medium, such as high-speed random access memory and/or anon-volatile computer readable storage medium (e.g., one or moremagnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or othernon-volatile solid-state memory devices).

In some embodiments, the I/O interface 306 couples input/output devices316 of the digital assistant system 300, such as displays, a keyboards,touch screens, and microphones, to the user interface module 322. TheI/O interface 306, in conjunction with the user interface module 322,receive user inputs (e.g., voice input, keyboard inputs, touch inputs,etc.) and process them accordingly. In some embodiments, e.g., when thedigital assistant is implemented on a standalone user device, thedigital assistant system 300 includes any of the components and I/O andcommunication interfaces described with respect to the user device 104in FIG. 2. In some embodiments, the digital assistant system 300represents the server portion of a digital assistant implementation, andinteracts with the user through a client-side portion residing on a userdevice (e.g., the user device 104 shown in FIG. 2).

In some embodiments, the network communications interface 308 includeswired communication port(s) 312 and/or wireless transmission andreception circuitry 314. The wired communication port(s) receive andsend communication signals via one or more wired interfaces, e.g.,Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, etc. The wirelesscircuitry 314 receives and sends RF signals and/or optical signalsfrom/to communications networks and other communications devices. Thewireless communications may use any of a plurality of communicationsstandards, protocols and technologies, such as GSM, EDGE, CDMA, TDMA,Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, VoIP, Wi-MAX, or any other suitable communicationprotocol. The network communications interface 308 enables communicationbetween the digital assistant system 300 with networks, such as theInternet, an intranet and/or a wireless network, such as a cellulartelephone network, a wireless local area network (LAN) and/or ametropolitan area network (MAN), and other devices.

In some embodiments, memory 302, or the computer readable storage mediaof memory 302, stores programs, modules, instructions, and datastructures including all or a subset of: an operating system 318, acommunications module 320, a user interface module 322, one or moreapplications 324, and a digital assistant module 326. The one or moreprocessors 304 execute these programs, modules, and instructions, andreads/writes from/to the data structures.

The operating system 318 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X,WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includesvarious software components and/or drivers for controlling and managinggeneral system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control,power management, etc.) and facilitates communications between varioushardware, firmware, and software components.

The communications module 320 facilitates communications between thedigital assistant system 300 with other devices over the networkcommunications interface 308. For example, the communication module 320may communicate with the communication interface 254 of the device 104shown in FIG. 2. The communications module 320 also includes variouscomponents for handling data received by the wireless circuitry 314and/or wired communications port 312.

The user interface module 322 receives commands and/or inputs from auser via the I/O interface 306 (e.g., from a keyboard, touch screen,pointing device, controller, and/or microphone), and generates userinterface objects on a display. The user interface module 322 alsoprepares and delivers outputs (e.g., speech, sound, animation, text,icons, vibrations, haptic feedback, and light, etc.) to the user via theI/O interface 306 (e.g., through displays, audio channels, speakers, andtouch-pads, etc.).

The applications 324 include programs and/or modules that are configuredto be executed by the one or more processors 304. For example, if thedigital assistant system is implemented on a standalone user device, theapplications 324 may include user applications, such as games, acalendar application, a navigation application, or an email application.If the digital assistant system 300 is implemented on a server farm, theapplications 324 may include resource management applications,diagnostic applications, or scheduling applications, for example.

The memory 302 also stores the digital assistant module (or the serverportion of a digital assistant) 326. In some embodiments, the digitalassistant module 326 includes the following sub-modules, or a subset orsuperset thereof: an input/output processing module 328, aspeech-to-text (STT) processing module 330, a natural languageprocessing module 332, a dialogue flow processing module 334, a taskflow processing module 336, a service processing module 338, and aninterruption handling module 340. Each of these modules has access toone or more of the following data and models of the digital assistant326, or a subset or superset thereof: ontology 360, vocabulary index344, user data 348, task flow models 354, service models 356, andpriority parameters database 358. In some embodiments, the memory 302also stores a limited language processing module 366. In someembodiments, the limited language processing module 366 has access to asubset of: ontology 360, vocabulary index 344, user data 348, task flowmodels 354, service models 356, and priority parameters database 358. Insome embodiments, the limited language processing module 366 is tailoredto recognize speech inputs for invoking the emergency call functionality(e.g., include a limited vocabulary index primarily containingvocabulary related to emergency situations).

In some embodiments, the limited language processing module 366 isutilized by digital assistant system 300 when the natural languageprocessing module 332 (or a part thereof) is unavailable (e.g., due tothe lack of an active data connection) and/or inoperable.

In some embodiments, using the processing modules, data, and modelsimplemented in the digital assistant module 326, the digital assistantperforms at least some of the following: identifying a user's intentexpressed in a natural language input received from the user; activelyeliciting and obtaining information needed to fully deduce the user'sintent (e.g., by disambiguating words, names, intentions, etc.);determining the task flow for fulfilling the deduced intent; andexecuting the task flow to fulfill the deduced intent.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 3B, the I/O processing module 328interacts with the user through the I/O devices 316 in FIG. 3A or with auser device (e.g., a user device 104 in FIG. 1) through the networkcommunications interface 308 in FIG. 3A to obtain user input (e.g., aspeech input) and to provide responses (e.g., as speech outputs) to theuser input. The I/O processing module 328 optionally obtains contextinformation associated with the user input from the user device, alongwith or shortly after the receipt of the user input. The contextinformation includes user-specific data, vocabulary, and/or preferencesrelevant to the user input. In some embodiments, the context informationalso includes software and hardware states of the device (e.g., the userdevice 104 in FIG. 1) at the time the user request is received, and/orinformation related to the surrounding environment of the user at thetime that the user request was received. In some embodiments, the I/Oprocessing module 328 also sends follow-up questions to, and receivesanswers from, the user regarding the user request. When a user requestis received by the I/O processing module 328 and the user requestcontains a speech input, the I/O processing module 328 forwards thespeech input to the speech-to-text (STT) processing module 330 forspeech-to-text conversions.

The speech-to-text processing module 330 receives speech input (e.g., auser utterance captured in a voice recording) through the I/O processingmodule 328. In some embodiments, the speech-to-text processing module330 uses various acoustic and language models to recognize the speechinput as a sequence of phonemes, and ultimately, a sequence of words ortokens written in one or more languages. The speech-to-text processingmodule 330 can be implemented using any suitable speech recognitiontechniques, acoustic models, and language models, such as Hidden MarkovModels, Dynamic Time Warping (DTW)-based speech recognition, and otherstatistical and/or analytical techniques. In some embodiments, thespeech-to-text processing can be performed at least partially by a thirdparty service or on the user's device. Once the speech-to-textprocessing module 330 obtains the result of the speech-to-textprocessing, e.g., a sequence of words or tokens, it passes the result tothe natural language processing module 332 for intent deduction.

More details on the speech-to-text processing are described in U.S.Utility application Ser. No. 13/236,942 for “Consolidating SpeechRecognition Results,” filed on Sep. 20, 2011, the entire disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

The natural language processing module 332 (“natural languageprocessor”) of the digital assistant takes the sequence of words ortokens (“token sequence”) generated by the speech-to-text processingmodule 330, and attempts to associate the token sequence with one ormore “actionable intents” recognized by the digital assistant. An“actionable intent” represents a task that can be performed by thedigital assistant, and has an associated task flow implemented in thetask flow models 354. The associated task flow is a series of programmedactions and steps that the digital assistant takes in order to performthe task. The scope of a digital assistant's capabilities is dependenton the number and variety of task flows that have been implemented andstored in the task flow models 354, or in other words, on the number andvariety of “actionable intents” that the digital assistant recognizes.The effectiveness of the digital assistant, however, is also dependenton the assistant's ability to deduce the correct “actionable intent(s)”from the user request expressed in natural language.

In some embodiments, in addition to the sequence of words or tokensobtained from the speech-to-text processing module 330, the naturallanguage processor 332 also receives context information associated withthe user request, e.g., from the I/O processing module 328. The naturallanguage processor 332 optionally uses the context information toclarify, supplement, and/or further define the information contained inthe token sequence received from the speech-to-text processing module330. The context information includes, for example, user preferences,hardware and/or software states of the user device, sensor informationcollected before, during, or shortly after the user request, priorinteractions (e.g., dialogue) between the digital assistant and theuser, and the like. As described in this specification, contextinformation is dynamic, and can change with time, location, content ofthe dialogue, and other factors.

In some embodiments, the natural language processing is based onontology 360. The ontology 360 is a hierarchical structure containingmany nodes, each node representing either an “actionable intent” or a“property” relevant to one or more of the “actionable intents” or other“properties”. As noted above, an “actionable intent” represents a taskthat the digital assistant is capable of performing, i.e., it is“actionable” or can be acted on. A “property” represents a parameterassociated with an actionable intent or a sub-aspect of anotherproperty. A linkage between an actionable intent node and a propertynode in the ontology 360 defines how a parameter represented by theproperty node pertains to the task represented by the actionable intentnode.

In some embodiments, the ontology 360 is made up of actionable intentnodes and property nodes. Within the ontology 360, each actionableintent node is linked to one or more property nodes either directly orthrough one or more intermediate property nodes. Similarly, eachproperty node is linked to one or more actionable intent nodes eitherdirectly or through one or more intermediate property nodes. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 3C, the ontology 360 may include a “restaurantreservation” node (i.e., an actionable intent node). Property nodes“restaurant,” “date/time” (for the reservation), and “party size” areeach directly linked to the actionable intent node (i.e., the“restaurant reservation” node). In addition, property nodes “cuisine,”“price range,” “phone number,” and “location” are sub-nodes of theproperty node “restaurant,” and are each linked to the “restaurantreservation” node (i.e., the actionable intent node) through theintermediate property node “restaurant.” For another example, as shownin FIG. 3C, the ontology 360 may also include a “set reminder” node(i.e., another actionable intent node). Property nodes “date/time” (forthe setting the reminder) and “subject” (for the reminder) are eachlinked to the “set reminder” node. Since the property “date/time” isrelevant to both the task of making a restaurant reservation and thetask of setting a reminder, the property node “date/time” is linked toboth the “restaurant reservation” node and the “set reminder” node inthe ontology 360.

An actionable intent node, along with its linked concept nodes, may bedescribed as a “domain.” In the present discussion, each domain isassociated with a respective actionable intent, and refers to the groupof nodes (and the relationships between the nodes) associated with theparticular actionable intent. For example, the ontology 360 shown inFIG. 3C includes an example of a restaurant reservation domain 362 andan example of a reminder domain 364 within the ontology 360. Therestaurant reservation domain includes the actionable intent node“restaurant reservation,” property nodes “restaurant,” “date/time,” and“party size,” and sub-property nodes “cuisine,” “price range,” “phonenumber,” and “location.” The reminder domain 364 includes the actionableintent node “set reminder,” and property nodes “subject” and“date/time.” In some embodiments, the ontology 360 is made up of manydomains. Each domain may share one or more property nodes with one ormore other domains. For example, the “date/time” property node may beassociated with many different domains (e.g., a scheduling domain, atravel reservation domain, a movie ticket domain, etc.), in addition tothe restaurant reservation domain 362 and the reminder domain 364.

While FIG. 3C illustrates two example domains within the ontology 360,other domains (or actionable intents) include, for example, “initiate aphone call,” “find directions,” “schedule a meeting,” “send a message,”and “provide an answer to a question,” “read a list,” “providingnavigation instructions,” “provide instructions for a task,” and so on.A “send a message” domain is associated with a “send a message”actionable intent node, and may further include property nodes such as“recipient(s),” “message type,” and “message body.” The property node“recipient” may be further defined, for example, by the sub-propertynodes such as “recipient name” and “message address.”

In some embodiments, the ontology 360 includes all the domains (andhence actionable intents) that the digital assistant is capable ofunderstanding and acting upon. In some embodiments, the ontology 360 maybe modified, such as by adding or removing entire domains or nodes, orby modifying relationships between the nodes within the ontology 360.

In some embodiments, nodes associated with multiple related actionableintents may be clustered under a “super domain” in the ontology 360. Forexample, a “travel” super-domain may include a cluster of property nodesand actionable intent nodes related to travels. The actionable intentnodes related to travels may include “airline reservation,” “hotelreservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” “find points of interest,”and so on. The actionable intent nodes under the same super domain(e.g., the “travels” super domain) may have many property nodes incommon. For example, the actionable intent nodes for “airlinereservation,” “hotel reservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” “findpoints of interest” may share one or more of the property nodes “startlocation,” “destination,” “departure date/time,” “arrival date/time,”and “party size.”

In some embodiments, each node in the ontology 360 is associated with aset of words and/or phrases that are relevant to the property oractionable intent represented by the node. The respective set of wordsand/or phrases associated with each node is the so-called “vocabulary”associated with the node. The respective set of words and/or phrasesassociated with each node can be stored in the vocabulary index 344 inassociation with the property or actionable intent represented by thenode. For example, returning to FIG. 3B, the vocabulary associated withthe node for the property of “restaurant” may include words such as“food,” “drinks,” “cuisine,” “hungry,” “eat,” “pizza,” “fast food,”“meal,” and so on. For another example, the vocabulary associated withthe node for the actionable intent of “initiate a phone call” mayinclude words and phrases such as “call,” “phone,” “dial,” “ring,” “callthis number,” “make a call to,” and so on. The vocabulary index 344optionally includes words and phrases in different languages.

The natural language processor 332 receives the token sequence (e.g., atext string) from the speech-to-text processing module 330, anddetermines what nodes are implicated by the words in the token sequence.In some embodiments, if a word or phrase in the token sequence is foundto be associated with one or more nodes in the ontology 360 (via thevocabulary index 344), the word or phrase will “trigger” or “activate”those nodes. Based on the quantity and/or relative importance of theactivated nodes, the natural language processor 332 will select one ofthe actionable intents as the task that the user intended the digitalassistant to perform. In some embodiments, the domain that has the most“triggered” nodes is selected. In some embodiments, the domain havingthe highest confidence value (e.g., based on the relative importance ofits various triggered nodes) is selected. In some embodiments, thedomain is selected based on a combination of the number and theimportance of the triggered nodes. In some embodiments, additionalfactors are considered in selecting the node as well, such as whetherthe digital assistant has previously correctly interpreted a similarrequest from a user.

In some embodiments, the digital assistant also stores names of specificentities in the vocabulary index 344, so that when one of these names isdetected in the user request, the natural language processor 332 will beable to recognize that the name refers to a specific instance of aproperty or sub-property in the ontology. In some embodiments, the namesof specific entities are names of businesses, restaurants, people,movies, and the like. In some embodiments, the digital assistantsearches and identifies specific entity names from other data sources,such as the user's address book, a movies database, a musiciansdatabase, and/or a restaurant database. In some embodiments, when thenatural language processor 332 identifies that a word in the tokensequence is a name of a specific entity (such as a name in the user'saddress book), that word is given additional significance in selectingthe actionable intent within the ontology for the user request.

For example, when the words “Mr. Santo” are recognized from the userrequest, and the last name “Santo” is found in the vocabulary index 344as one of the contacts in the user's contact list, then it is likelythat the user request corresponds to a “send a message” or “initiate aphone call” domain. For another example, when the words “ABC Café” arefound in the user request, and the term “ABC Cafe” is found in thevocabulary index 344 as the name of a particular restaurant in theuser's city, then it is likely that the user request corresponds to a“restaurant reservation” domain.

User data 348 includes user-specific information, such as user-specificvocabulary, user preferences, user address, user's default and secondarylanguages, user's contact list, and other short-term or long-terminformation for each user. In some embodiments, the natural languageprocessor 332 uses the user-specific information to supplement theinformation contained in the user input to further define the userintent. For example, for a user request “invite my friends to mybirthday party,” the natural language processor 332 is able to accessuser data 348 to determine who the “friends” are and when and where the“birthday party” would be held, rather than requiring the user toprovide such information explicitly in his/her request.

Other details of searching an ontology based on a token string isdescribed in U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 12/341,743 for “Methodand Apparatus for Searching Using An Active Ontology,” filed Dec. 22,2008, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

In some embodiments, once the natural language processor 332 identifiesan actionable intent (or domain) based on the user request, the naturallanguage processor 332 generates a structured query to represent theidentified actionable intent. In some embodiments, the structured queryincludes parameters for one or more nodes within the domain for theactionable intent, and at least some of the parameters are populatedwith the specific information and requirements specified in the userrequest. For example, the user may say “Make me a dinner reservation ata sushi place at 7.” In this case, the natural language processor 332may be able to correctly identify the actionable intent to be“restaurant reservation” based on the user input. According to theontology, a structured query for a “restaurant reservation” domain mayinclude parameters such as {Cuisine}, {Time}, {Date}, {Party Size}, andthe like. In some embodiments, based on the information contained in theuser's utterance, the natural language processor 332 generates a partialstructured query for the restaurant reservation domain, where thepartial structured query includes the parameters {Cuisine=“Sushi”} and{Time=“7 pm”}. However, in this example, the user's utterance containsinsufficient information to complete the structured query associatedwith the domain. Therefore, other necessary parameters such as {PartySize} and {Date} are not specified in the structured query based on theinformation currently available. In some embodiments, the naturallanguage processor 332 populates some parameters of the structured querywith received context information. For example, in some embodiments, ifthe user requested a sushi restaurant “near me,” the natural languageprocessor 332 populates a {location} parameter in the structured querywith GPS coordinates from the user device 104.

In some embodiments, the natural language processor 332 passes thestructured query (including any completed parameters) to the task flowprocessing module 336 (“task flow processor”). The task flow processor336 is configured to receive the structured query from the naturallanguage processor 332, complete the structured query, if necessary, andperform the actions required to “complete” the user's ultimate request.In some embodiments, the various procedures necessary to complete thesetasks are provided in task flow models 354. In some embodiments, thetask flow models include procedures for obtaining additional informationfrom the user, and task flows for performing actions associated with theactionable intent.

As described above, in order to complete a structured query, the taskflow processor 336 may need to initiate additional dialogue with theuser in order to obtain additional information, and/or disambiguatepotentially ambiguous utterances. When such interactions are necessary,the task flow processor 336 invokes the dialogue processing module 334(“dialogue processor 334”) to engage in a dialogue with the user. Insome embodiments, the dialogue processor 334 determines how (and/orwhen) to ask the user for the additional information, and receives andprocesses the user responses. The questions are provided to and answersare received from the users through the I/O processing module 328. Insome embodiments, the dialogue processor 334 presents dialogue output tothe user via audio and/or visual output, and receives input from theuser via spoken or physical (e.g., clicking) responses. Continuing withthe example above, when the task flow processor 336 invokes the dialogueflow processor 334 to determine the “party size” and “date” informationfor the structured query associated with the domain “restaurantreservation,” the dialogue flow processor 335 generates questions suchas “For how many people?” and “On which day?” to pass to the user. Onceanswers are received from the user, the dialogue flow processor 334 canthen populate the structured query with the missing information, or passthe information to the task flow processor 336 to complete the missinginformation from the structured query.

In some cases, the task flow processor 336 may receive a structuredquery that has one or more ambiguous properties. For example, astructured query for the “send a message” domain may indicate that theintended recipient is “Bob,” and the user may have multiple contactsnamed “Bob.” The task flow processor 336 will request that the dialogueprocessor 334 disambiguate this property of the structured query. Inturn, the dialogue processor 334 may ask the user “Which Bob?”, anddisplay (or read) a list of contacts named “Bob” from which the user maychoose.

Once the task flow processor 336 has completed the structured query foran actionable intent, the task flow processor 336 proceeds to performthe ultimate task associated with the actionable intent. Accordingly,the task flow processor 336 executes the steps and instructions in thetask flow model according to the specific parameters contained in thestructured query. For example, the task flow model for the actionableintent of “restaurant reservation” may include steps and instructionsfor contacting a restaurant and actually requesting a reservation for aparticular party size at a particular time. For example, using astructured query such as: {restaurant reservation, restaurant=ABC Café,date=3/12/2012, time=7 pm, party size=5}, the task flow processor 336may perform the steps of: (1) logging onto a server of the ABC Cafe or arestaurant reservation system such as OPENTABLE®, (2) entering the date,time, and party size information in a form on the website, (3)submitting the form, and (4) making a calendar entry for the reservationin the user's calendar.

In some embodiments, the task flow processor 336 employs the assistanceof a service processing module 338 (“service processor”) to complete atask requested in the user input or to provide an informational answerrequested in the user input. For example, the service processor 338 canact on behalf of the task flow processor 336 to make a phone call, set acalendar entry, invoke a map search, invoke or interact with other userapplications installed on the user device, and invoke or interact withthird party services (e.g. a restaurant reservation portal, a socialnetworking website, a banking portal, etc.). In some embodiments, theprotocols and application programming interfaces (API) required by eachservice can be specified by a respective service model among theservices models 356. The service processor 338 accesses the appropriateservice model for a service and generates requests for the service inaccordance with the protocols and APIs required by the service accordingto the service model.

For example, if a restaurant has enabled an online reservation service,the restaurant can submit a service model specifying the necessaryparameters for making a reservation and the APIs for communicating thevalues of the necessary parameter to the online reservation service.When requested by the task flow processor 336, the service processor 338can establish a network connection with the online reservation serviceusing the web address stored in the service model, and send thenecessary parameters of the reservation (e.g., time, date, party size)to the online reservation interface in a format according to the API ofthe online reservation service.

In some embodiments, the natural language processor 332, dialogueprocessor 334, and task flow processor 336 are used collectively anditeratively to deduce and define the user's intent, obtain informationto further clarify and refine the user intent, and finally generate aresponse (i.e., an output to the user, or the completion of a task) tofulfill the user's intent.

In some embodiments, after all of the tasks needed to fulfill the user'srequest have been performed, the digital assistant 326 formulates aconfirmation response, and sends the response back to the user throughthe I/O processing module 328. If the user request seeks aninformational answer, the confirmation response presents the requestedinformation to the user. In some embodiments, the digital assistant alsorequests the user to indicate whether the user is satisfied with theresponse produced by the digital assistant 326.

More details on the digital assistant can be found in the U.S. Utilityapplication Ser. No. 12/987,982, entitled “Intelligent AutomatedAssistant”, filed Jan. 18, 2010, U.S. Utility Application No.61/493,201, entitled “Generating and Processing Data Items ThatRepresent Tasks to Perform”, filed Jun. 3, 2011, the entire disclosuresof which are incorporated herein by reference.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 4 showing portable multifunctiondevice 400 (e.g., user device 104) having touch screen 246, inaccordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the touch screendisplays one or more graphics within a user interface (UI). In theseembodiments, as well as others described below, a user selects one ormore of the graphics by making contact or touching the graphics, forexample, with one or more fingers 402 (not drawn to scale in the figure)or one or more styluses 403 (not drawn to scale in the figure). In someembodiments, selection of one or more graphics occurs when the userbreaks contact with the one or more graphics. In some embodiments, thecontact includes a gesture, such as one or more taps, one or more swipes(from left to right, right to left, upward and/or downward) and/or arolling of a finger (from right to left, left to right, upward and/ordownward) that has made contact with device 400. In some embodiments,inadvertent contact with a graphic will not select the graphic. Forexample, a swipe gesture that sweeps over an application icon will notselect the corresponding application when the gesture corresponding toselection is a tap.

In some embodiments, device 400 also includes one or more physicalbuttons, such as menu (e.g., “Home”) button 404. Menu button 404 is usedto navigate to any application 262 in a set of applications that may beexecuted on device 400. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the menubutton is implemented as a soft key in a GUI displayed on touch screen246.

In some embodiments, device 400 includes touch screen 246, menu button404, push button 406 for powering the device on/off and locking thedevice, volume adjustment button(s) 408, Subscriber Identity Module(SIM) card slot 410, head set jack 412, and docking/charging externalport 411. Push button 406 may be used to turn the power on/off on thedevice by depressing the button and holding the button in the depressedstate for a predefined time interval; to lock the device by depressingthe button and releasing the button before the predefined time intervalhas elapsed; and/or to unlock the device or initiate an unlock process.In an alternative embodiment, device 400 also may accept verbal inputfor activation or deactivation of some functions through microphone 230.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate exemplary user interfaces for displayingcontent associated with operating a digital assistant to provideemergency call functionality in accordance with some embodiments. InFIGS. 5A and 5B, user interface 500 is displayed on touch screen 246.User interface 500 includes telephony (e.g., cellular) signal strengthindicator 510, baseband telephony service indicator 512, data serviceconnection indicator 514 (e.g., 3G or 4G data connections), Wi-Ficonnection and signal strength indicator 516, and global positioningsystem (“GPS”) indicator 518. In accordance with some embodiments, FIG.5A also shows user interface 500 including notification 520 and cancelbutton 522. In accordance with some other embodiments, FIG. 5B showsuser interface 500 including emergency inquiry 524, confirm (e.g., yes)button 526, and no button 528.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating functions of the digital assistantsystem in accordance with some embodiments. In accordance with theseembodiments, a device (e.g., portable multifunction device 400) receives(602) a speech input from a user.

In some embodiments or circumstances, a server (e.g., server system 108,FIG. 1) determines (603) whether the speech input expresses a userrequest for making an emergency call. In these embodiments, the deviceobtains (604) the determination from the server. However, in someembodiments or circumstances, the device determines (604) whether thespeech input expresses a user request for making (or, alternatively,expresses a user intent to make) an emergency call. Examples of speechinput that expresses a request or an intent to make an emergency callinclude “call 911” and “call the police,” as well as various expressions(“we need the police right away”) of a user's intent to make anemergency call even if the speech input does not include an explicitrequest or command to make such a call.

In some embodiments or circumstances, the server determines (605)whether the speech input unambiguously expresses a user request formaking an emergency call. In these embodiments or circumstances, thedevice obtains (606) the determination from the server. In someembodiments or circumstances, the device determines (606) whether thespeech input unambiguously expresses a user request for making anemergency call.

In some embodiments, the server determines (607) a local emergencydispatcher telephone number based on a geographic location of thedevice. In these embodiments, the device obtains (608) the determinationfrom the server. In some embodiments, the device determines (608) alocal emergency dispatcher telephone number based on a geographiclocation of the device.

In some embodiments, in response to determining that the speech inputexpresses a user request for making an emergency call (610), the devicecalls the local emergency dispatcher telephone number using theemergency call functionality (e.g., emergency call module 270 in FIG.2).

FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 8 are flow diagrams representing methods for operatinga digital assistant to provide emergency call functionality, inaccordance with some embodiments. The methods are, optionally, governedby instructions that are stored in a computer memory or non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium (e.g., memory 250 of user device 104,memory 302 associated with the digital assistant system 300) and thatare executed by one or more processors of one or more computer systemsof a digital assistant system, including, but not limited to, the serversystem 108, and/or the user device 104. The computer readable storagemedium optionally include a magnetic or optical disk storage device,solid state storage devices such as Flash memory, or other non-volatilememory device or devices. The computer readable instructions stored onthe computer readable storage medium optionally include one or more of:source code, assembly language code, object code, or other instructionformat that is interpreted by one or more processors. In variousimplementations, some operations in each method are combined and/or theorder of some operations is changed from the order shown in the figures.Also, in some implementations, operations shown in separate figuresand/or discussed in association with separate methods are combined toform other methods, and operations shown in the same figure and/ordiscussed in association with the same method are separated intodifferent methods. Moreover, in some implementations, one or moreoperations in the methods are performed by modules of the digitalassistant system 300 and/or an electronic device (e.g., user device104), including, for example, the natural language processing module332, the dialogue flow processing module 334, the limited languageprocessing module 366, the emergency call module 270, the limitedlanguage module 268, and/or any sub modules thereof.

FIGS. 7A-7B illustrate method 700 for operating a digital assistant toprovide emergency call functionality, in accordance with someembodiments. In some embodiments, method 700 is performed at a deviceincluding one or more processors and memory storing instructions forexecution by the one or more processors (e.g., device 104 in FIG. 1).

In some embodiments, the device provides (702) a limited naturallanguage processing module within the digital assistant (e.g., limitedlanguage module 268). The limited natural language processing modulediffers from a primary natural language processing module used by thedigital assistant during normal operation, and in particular, thelimited natural language processing module is tailored to recognizespeech inputs for invoking the emergency call functionality.

The device receives (704) an input (e.g., via speech, text, and/orgestures, etc.) from a user.

In some embodiments or circumstances, the device has (706) an activedata connection (e.g., a 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G LTE, and/or Wi-Fi connection).For example, device 400 has an active data connection as denoted by dataservice connection indicator 514 and/or Wi-Fi connection and signalstrength indicator 516 in FIG. 5A. In some embodiments or circumstances,the device does not (708) have an active connection to a subscribedtelephone service, but does have access to a baseband telephone service.For example, in accordance with these embodiments, in FIG. 5A, basebandtelephony service indicator 512 on device 400 indicates that device 400has access to a baseband telephone service.

In some embodiments or circumstances, the device does not have (710) anoperating SIM card (e.g., does not have an operating SIM card in SIMCard Slot 410 in FIG. 4). For example, in some implementations, thedevice calls the local emergency dispatcher telephone number using abaseband telephone service when (e.g., in accordance with adetermination that) the device does not have an operating SIM card. Insome embodiments or circumstances, the device does not have (712) a SIMcard that is compatible with any telephony service available at thedevice's current location. For example, in some implementations, thedevice calls the local emergency dispatcher telephone number using abaseband telephone service when (e.g., in accordance with adetermination that) the device does not have a SIM card that iscompatible with any telephony service available at the device's currentlocation.

In some embodiments, the device determines (714) whether the device iscurrently authorized to make non-emergency telephone calls using acellular service available at the current geographic location of thedevice. In response to determining (716) that the device is notcurrently authorized to make non-emergency telephone calls using atelephony service (e.g., a cellular service) available at the currentgeographic location of the device and determining that the user inputcomprises speech input, the device invokes (718) the limited naturallanguage processing module to process the speech input.

The device determines or obtains a determination (720) of whether theuser input (e.g., speech input) expresses a user request for making anemergency call. For example, in some embodiments, determining of whetherthe user input expresses a user request for making an emergency callincludes obtaining, from a remote server, via an active data connection,a determination of whether the user input expresses a user request formaking an emergency call. In some embodiments or circumstances, thedevice locally determines whether the user input expresses a userrequest for making an emergency call.

In some embodiments, prior to determining or obtaining a determinationof a local emergency dispatcher telephone number, the device ascertains(722) the geographic location of the device. For example, in someembodiments or circumstances, the device ascertains the geographiclocation of the device via a GPS sensor (e.g., a sensor 216). In someembodiments or circumstances, the device ascertains the geographiclocation of the device based on the location of the nearest telephonyservice tower. In some embodiments or circumstances, the deviceascertains the geographic location of the device based on the locationof a Wi-Fi service provider.

The device determines or obtains a determination (724) of the localemergency dispatcher telephone number based on the geographic locationof the device. For example, in some embodiments, the device utilizes anemergency number look-up table stored on a remote server. In someembodiments, the emergency dispatcher telephone number is (726) one of aplurality of emergency dispatcher telephone numbers stored on thedevice.

In response to determining or obtaining a determination (728) that theuser input expresses a user request for making an emergency call, thedevice calls (734) the local emergency dispatcher telephone number usingthe emergency call functionality (e.g., via a baseband telephoneservice).

In some embodiments, prior to calling the local emergency dispatchertelephone number, the device provides (730) a notification to the userthat the device will promptly call the local emergency dispatchertelephone number. While providing the notification, the device provides(732) an affordance for the user to cancel the request for making anemergency call. For example, in some embodiments, the device displays afive second countdown notification (e.g., notification 520 in FIG. 5A)and an affordance to cancel the pending emergency call (e.g., cancelbutton 522 and/or Home button 404 in FIG. 5A). In some implementations,the device will provide verbal notification and/or utilize verbalcancellation from the user.

FIG. 8 illustrates methods 800 and 810 for operating a digital assistantto provide emergency call functionality, in accordance with someembodiments. In some embodiments, methods 800 and 810 are performed at adevice including one or more processors and memory storing instructionsfor execution by the one or more processors (e.g., device 104 in FIG.1).

In some embodiments, determining or obtaining a determination of whetherthe user input expresses a user request for making an emergency call(720) comprises determining or obtaining a determination (802) ofwhether the user input unambiguously expresses a user request for makingan emergency call.

In some embodiments, in response to a determination that the user inputunambiguously expresses a user request for an emergency call, withoutfurther user input, (804) the device calls (734) the local emergencydispatcher telephone number using the emergency call functionality. Forexample, the user input is a speech input saying “call 911” and, withoutfurther user input, the device determines that 911 is the appropriateemergency dispatcher number and the device calls 911.

In some embodiments, in response to a determination that the user inputdoes not unambiguously express a user request for an emergency call,(806) prior to calling (734) the local emergency dispatcher telephonenumber using the emergency call functionality, the device provides (808)the user with a notification and an affordance for confirming the user'srequest for making an emergency call. For example, the user input is“find fire departments near here” and the device provides a emergencyinquiry (e.g., confirmation inquiry 524 in FIG. 5B) and an affordancefor confirming (e.g., confirm button 526 in FIG. 5B). In someimplementations, the device will provide verbal notification and/orutilize verbal confirmation from the user.

In some embodiments, determining or obtaining a determination of whetherthe user input expresses a user request for making an emergency call(720) comprises determining or obtaining a determination (812) that theuser input is a user request for calling a first emergency number. Forexample, the user input is “call 911” and the device determines that“911” is the first emergency number.

In some embodiments, determining or obtaining a determination of thelocal emergency dispatcher telephone number based on a geographiclocation of the device (724) comprises determining or obtaining adetermination (814) of a second emergency number. When the firstemergency number is distinct from the second emergency number, thedevice calls (816) the local emergency dispatcher telephone number usingthe emergency call functionality comprises calling the second emergencynumber. For example, the device determines it is currently located inSingapore and that the appropriate emergency dispatch number is 995. Inthis example, the device then calls 995.

Using a digital assistant in accordance with the methods described aboveis more efficient and convenient than conventional user interfaces forproviding emergency call functionality.

FIG. 9 shows, in accordance with some embodiments, a functional blockdiagram of a device 900 configured in accordance with the principles ofthe invention as described above. The functional blocks of the devicemay be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardwareand software to carry out the principles of the invention. It isunderstood by persons of skill in the art that the functional blocksdescribed in FIG. 9 may be combined or separated into sub-blocks toimplement the principles of the invention as described above. Therefore,the description herein may support any possible combination orseparation or further definition of the functional blocks describedherein.

As shown in FIG. 9, device 900 includes sound receiving unit 902configured to receive sound input. Device 900 also includes processingunit 906 coupled to sound receiving unit 902. In some embodiments,obtaining unit 904 is coupled to sound receiving unit 902 and processingunit 906. In some embodiments, processing unit 906 includes speechdetermining unit 908, number determining unit 910, calling unit 912,ascertaining unit 914, ambiguity determining unit 916, affordanceproviding unit 918, notification providing unit 920, and languageproviding unit 922. In some embodiments, number determining unit 910corresponds to emergency call module 270. In some embodiments, ambiguitydetermining unit 916 corresponds to natural language processing module332. In some embodiments, ambiguity determining unit 916 corresponds tolimited language processing module 366. In some embodiments, obtainingunit 904 corresponds to I/O subsystem 240. In some embodiments,affordance providing unit 918 is or includes notification providing unit920. In some embodiments, speech determining unit 908 is or includesambiguity determining unit 916.

Processing unit 906 is configured to: receive (e.g., with soundreceiving unit 902) a speech input from a user; determine (e.g., withspeech determining unit 908) or obtain a determination (e.g., withobtaining unit 902) of whether the speech input expresses a user requestfor making an emergency call; and determine (e.g., with numberdetermining unit 910) or obtain a determination (e.g., with obtainingunit 902) of a local emergency dispatcher telephone number based on ageographic location of device 900. Processing unit 906 is furtherconfigured to, in response to determining or obtaining a determinationthat the speech input expresses a user request for making an emergencycall, call (e.g., with calling unit 912) the local emergency dispatchertelephone number.

In some embodiments, prior to determining or obtaining a determinationof the local emergency dispatcher telephone number, device 900ascertains (e.g., with ascertaining unit 914) the geographic location ofdevice 900.

In some embodiments, determining or obtaining a determination of whetherthe speech input expresses a user request for making an emergency callcomprises determining (e.g., with ambiguity determining unit 916) orobtaining a determination (e.g., with obtaining unit 902) of whether thespeech input unambiguously expresses a user request for making anemergency call. In some embodiments, in response to a determination thatthe speech input unambiguously expresses a user request for an emergencycall, without further user input, device 900 calls (e.g., with callingunit 912) the local emergency dispatcher telephone number using theemergency call functionality. In response to a determination that thespeech input does not unambiguously express a user request for anemergency call, prior to calling the local emergency dispatchertelephone number using the emergency call functionality, device 900provides the user with a notification (e.g., with notification providingunit 920) and an affordance (e.g., with affordance providing unit 918)for confirming the user's request for making an emergency call.

In some embodiments, determining or obtaining a determination of whetherthe speech input expresses a user request for making an emergency callcomprises determining (e.g., with number determining unit 910) orobtaining a determination (e.g., with obtaining unit 902) that thespeech input is a user request for calling a first emergency number. Insome embodiments, determining or obtaining a determination of a localemergency dispatcher telephone number based on a geographic location ofdevice 900 comprises determining (e.g., with number determining unit910) or obtaining a determination (e.g., with obtaining unit 902) of asecond emergency number. In some embodiments, when the first emergencynumber is distinct from the second emergency number, calling the localemergency dispatcher telephone number using the emergency callfunctionality comprises calling (e.g., with calling unit 912) the secondemergency number.

In some embodiments, prior to calling the local emergency dispatchertelephone number, device 900 provides a notification (e.g., withnotification providing unit 920) to the user that device 900 willpromptly call the local emergency dispatcher telephone number and, whileproviding the notification, device 900 provides an affordance (e.g.,with affordance providing unit 918) for the user to cancel the requestfor making an emergency call.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific embodiments. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the disclosed embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. Manymodifications and variations are possible in view of the aboveteachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to bestexplain the principles and practical applications of the disclosedideas, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize themwith various modifications as are suited to the particular usecontemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of operating a digital assistant toprovide emergency call functionality, comprising: at a device havingmemory and one or more processors: while one or more functionalities ofthe digital assistant other than emergency call functionality areaccessible via speech input on the device, receiving a speech input froma user; determining or obtaining a determination of whether the speechinput expresses a user request for making an emergency call; determiningor obtaining a determination of a local emergency dispatcher telephonenumber based on a geographic location of the device; and in response todetermining or obtaining a determination that the speech input expressesa user request for making an emergency call, calling the local emergencydispatcher telephone number using the emergency call functionality. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the device has an active data connection.3. The method of claim 1, wherein the device does not have an activeconnection to a subscribed telephone service, but does have access to abaseband telephone service.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the devicedoes not have an operating SIM card.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe device does not have a SIM card that is compatible with anytelephony service available at the device's current location.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: prior to determining or obtaininga determination of the local emergency dispatcher telephone number,ascertaining the geographic location of the device.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the emergency dispatcher telephone number is one of aplurality of emergency dispatcher telephone numbers stored on thedevice.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining or obtaining adetermination of whether the speech input expresses a user request formaking an emergency call comprises determining or obtaining adetermination of whether the speech input unambiguously expresses a userrequest for making an emergency call; in response to a determinationthat the speech input unambiguously expresses a user request for anemergency call, without further user input, calling the local emergencydispatcher telephone number using the emergency call functionality; andin response to a determination that the speech input does notunambiguously express a user request for an emergency call, prior tocalling the local emergency dispatcher telephone number using theemergency call functionality, providing the user with a notification andan affordance for confirming the user's request for making an emergencycall.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining or obtaining adetermination of whether the speech input expresses a user request formaking an emergency call comprises determining or obtaining adetermination that the speech input is a user request for calling afirst emergency number; wherein determining or obtaining a determinationof a local emergency dispatcher telephone number based on a geographiclocation of the device comprises determining or obtaining adetermination of a second emergency number; and wherein, when the firstemergency number is distinct from the second emergency number, callingthe local emergency dispatcher telephone number using the emergency callfunctionality comprises calling the second emergency number.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: prior to calling the localemergency dispatcher telephone number, providing a notification to theuser that the device will promptly call the local emergency dispatchertelephone number; and while providing the notification, providing anaffordance for the user to cancel the request for making an emergencycall.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing a limitednatural language processing module within the digital assistant, whereinthe limited natural language processing module differs from a primarynatural language processing module used by the digital assistant duringnormal operation, and wherein the limited natural language processingmodule is tailored to recognize speech inputs for invoking the emergencycall functionality.
 12. A device, comprising: one or more processors;memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs arestored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or moreprocessors, the one or more programs including instructions to: whileone or more functionalities of a digital assistant other than emergencycall functionality are accessible via speech input on the device,receive a speech input from a user; determine or obtain a determinationof whether the speech input expresses a user request for making anemergency call; determine or obtain a determination of a local emergencydispatcher telephone number based on a geographic location of thedevice; and in response to determining or obtaining a determination thatthe speech input expresses a user request for making an emergency call,call the local emergency dispatcher telephone number.
 13. The device ofclaim 12, wherein the device has an active data connection.
 14. Thedevice of claim 12, wherein the device does not have an activeconnection to a subscribed telephone service, but does have access to abaseband telephone service.
 15. The device of claim 12, the one or moreprograms further comprising instructions to, prior to determining orobtaining a determination of the local emergency dispatcher telephonenumber, ascertain the geographic location of the device.
 16. The deviceof claim 12, wherein the emergency dispatcher telephone number is one ofa plurality of emergency dispatcher telephone numbers stored on thedevice.
 17. The device of claim 12, wherein determining or obtaining adetermination of whether the speech input expresses a user request formaking an emergency call comprises determining or obtaining adetermination of whether the speech input unambiguously expresses a userrequest for making an emergency call; and wherein the one or moreprograms further comprise instructions to: in response to adetermination that the speech input unambiguously expresses a userrequest for an emergency call, without further user input, call thelocal emergency dispatcher telephone number using the emergency callfunctionality; and in response to a determination that the speech inputdoes not unambiguously express a user request for an emergency call,prior to calling the local emergency dispatcher telephone number usingthe emergency call functionality, provide the user with a notificationand an affordance for confirming the user's request for making anemergency call.
 18. The device of claim 12, wherein determining orobtaining a determination of whether the speech input expresses a userrequest for making an emergency call comprises determining or obtaininga determination that the speech input is a user request for calling afirst emergency number; wherein determining or obtaining a determinationof a local emergency dispatcher telephone number based on a geographiclocation of the device comprises determining or obtaining adetermination of a second emergency number; and wherein the one or moreprograms further comprise instructions to, when the first emergencynumber is distinct from the second emergency number, call the localemergency dispatcher telephone number using the emergency callfunctionality comprises calling the second emergency number.
 19. Thedevice of claim 12, wherein the one or more programs further compriseinstructions to: prior to calling the local emergency dispatchertelephone number, provide a notification to the user that the devicewill promptly call the local emergency dispatcher telephone number; andwhile providing the notification, provide an affordance for the user tocancel the request for making an emergency call.
 20. The device of claim12, wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions toprovide a limited natural language processing module within the digitalassistant, wherein the limited natural language processing modulediffers from a primary natural language processing module used by thedigital assistant during normal operation, and wherein the limitednatural language processing module is tailored to recognize speechinputs for invoking the emergency call functionality.
 21. The device ofclaim 12, wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructionsto: determine whether the device is currently authorized to makenon-emergency telephone calls using a cellular service available at thecurrent geographic location of the device; and in response todetermining that the device is not currently authorized to makenon-emergency telephone calls using a cellular service available at thecurrent geographic location of the device, invoke the limited naturallanguage processing module to process the speech input.
 22. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or moreprograms, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which whenexecuted by an electronic device, cause the device to: while one or morefunctionalities of a digital assistant other than emergency callfunctionality are accessible via speech input on the device, receive aspeech input from a user; determine or obtain a determination of whetherthe speech input expresses a user request for making an emergency call;determine or obtain a determination of a local emergency dispatchertelephone number based on a geographic location of the device; and inresponse to determining or obtaining a determination that the speechinput expresses a user request for making an emergency call, call thelocal emergency dispatcher telephone number.
 23. The non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the instructionsto determine or obtain a determination of whether the speech inputexpresses a user request for making an emergency call includeinstructions to obtain, from a remote server, via an active dataconnection, a determination of whether the speech input expresses a userrequest for making an emergency call.
 24. The non-transitory computerreadable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the one or more programsinclude instructions to call the local emergency dispatcher telephonenumber using a baseband telephone service when the device does not havean active connection to a subscribed telephone service.
 25. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 22, the one ormore programs further comprising instructions to, prior to determiningor obtaining a determination of the local emergency dispatcher telephonenumber, ascertain the geographic location of the device.
 26. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein theemergency dispatcher telephone number is one of a plurality of emergencydispatcher telephone numbers stored on the device.
 27. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 22, whereindetermining or obtaining a determination of whether the speech inputexpresses a user request for making an emergency call comprisesdetermining or obtaining a determination of whether the speech inputunambiguously expresses a user request for making an emergency call; andwherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions to: inresponse to a determination that the speech input unambiguouslyexpresses a user request for an emergency call, without further userinput, call the local emergency dispatcher telephone number using theemergency call functionality; and in response to a determination thatthe speech input does not unambiguously express a user request for anemergency call, prior to calling the local emergency dispatchertelephone number using the emergency call functionality, provide theuser with a notification and an affordance for confirming the user'srequest for making an emergency call.
 28. The non-transitory computerreadable storage medium of claim 22, wherein determining or obtaining adetermination of whether the speech input expresses a user request formaking an emergency call comprises determining or obtaining adetermination that the speech input is a user request for calling afirst emergency number; wherein determining or obtaining a determinationof a local emergency dispatcher telephone number based on a geographiclocation of the device comprises determining or obtaining adetermination of a second emergency number; and wherein the one or moreprograms further comprise instructions to, when the first emergencynumber is distinct from the second emergency number, call the localemergency dispatcher telephone number using the emergency callfunctionality comprises calling the second emergency number.
 29. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein theone or more programs further comprise instructions to: prior to callingthe local emergency dispatcher telephone number, provide a notificationto the user that the device will promptly call the local emergencydispatcher telephone number; and while providing the notification,provide an affordance for the user to cancel the request for making anemergency call.
 30. The non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof claim 22, wherein the one or more programs further compriseinstructions to provide a limited natural language processing modulewithin the digital assistant, wherein the limited natural languageprocessing module differs from a primary natural language processingmodule used by the digital assistant during normal operation, andwherein the limited natural language processing module is tailored torecognize speech inputs for invoking the emergency call functionality.